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Summary

The Eleventh Amendment, the amendment to the Constitution ratified
after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, was adopted
following the Supreme Court ruling in Chisholm v.Georgia, . In Chisholm,
the Court ruled that federal courts had the authority to hear cases
in law and equity brought by private
citizens against states and that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity from suits made by
citizens of other states. Thus, the amendment clarified
Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, which gave diversity jurisdiction to the
judiciary to hear cases "between a state and citizens of another
state."

The amendment's text does not mention suits brought against a state
by its own citizens. However, in Hans v.Louisiana, , the Supreme Court ruled
that the amendment reflects a broader principle of sovereign
immunity. As JusticeAnthony Kennedy, writing for a five
Justice majority, stated in Alden
v.Maine, :

Writing for a four justice dissent in Alden, Justice
David Souter said the states
surrendered their sovereign immunity when they ratified the
Constitution. The dissenting justices read the amendment's text as
reflecting a narrow form of sovereign immunity that limited only
the diversity jurisdiction of the federal courts. They concluded
that the states are not insulated from suits by individuals by
either the Eleventh Amendment in particular or the Constitution in
general.